So what is it - our national fascination with the grotesque? Seldom has makeup in a film been so reflective of a character while also characterizing the national tone at this moment in time.
Kudos go to the brilliant makeup artist John Caglione, Jr., an Oscar-winner for "Dick Tracy" in 1990. I'm predicting the Oscar will go home with Caglione once again for the incredible work he and his team have done on The Dark Knight.
As Caglione says in an interview with Resource411: "[The technique] can only be described as a dance. Before I applied the white makeup, Heath would "lead" by contorting his face, scrunching his eyes, and raising his forehead. I would follow, brushing the colors over his expressions. This created all the cracks and drippy creases. Where he moved, I moved in the makeup room and on set each day, shot by shot."
Taking inspiration from the eerie paintings of Francis Bacon, suggested by director Chris Noland and producer Emma Thomas, Caglione created makeup designed to keep the audience squirming at least as much as the behavior and dialog of The Joker.
Already a huge winner with $66.4M in its opening weekend, The Dark Knight has toppled Spider-man as the biggest opener. I'll be watching to see if this one has legs.
And props to the late, great Heath Ledger - few leading men in Hollywood have ever had the courage to appear on film with so deeply frightening a 'mask.'
